Deceiving The Eagle

By John James Drake

Let me begin by pointing out that virtually all attitudes that we think of as being “ours” are derived from sources outside of one’s self. While this may or may not be obvious, it sets the stage for what you will later read about making choices and exercising what we mistakenly call “free will”.

The intention of this book is to help raise people’s consciousness regarding the copious deceptive and deceitful practices that occur in society by discussing their root causes, and then presenting some of the negative manifestations of those behaviors. We can not expect to advance society by allowing these antisocial actions to go unacknowledged and not dealt with.

Also described are some of the ways in which we voluntarily become victims, whether they are derived from social interaction, religious indoctrination, the press, our government, or the ever present manipulation of consumers by big business. These are all areas in which we can benefit from having reasonable insights.

Before approaching those subjects it would be helpful to spend time getting to know the brain, decipher how and why it functions the way it does, and then examine the implications.

Pogo: “I have met the enemy and it is me.”

While there are many adverse behaviors discussed herein, the most flagrant of them may come from politicians... virtually all of whom are indebted to the corrupting purse-strings of corporate America for their political livelihood (reelection funding). It is the officers and directors of the major institutions who manipulate this country with their legalized bribes and surreptitious illegal perks. And this corporate achievement is accomplished without a great deal of detection, fanfare, or concern for who may be in office at any given time. Have you noticed how often big business give money to both parties? This tolerated graft is why nothing much changes from one Administration or one Congress to the next. Big business owns both.

People may imagine that they are voting for change if they cast their ballot against an incumbent. The reality is that any perceived difference between candidates is only a function of the false and exaggerated rhetoric that is issued for the purpose of vote-capturing. This carefully-constructed posturing can be quite different from a politician’s actual beliefs, which may only be expressed in the back rooms of power. This is where political platforms are created, with an unwavering eye in the direction of the candidate’s next campaign and toward those who will finance it.

Business owns government, and it will until we accept that reality and act to prevent it.

Many of the points that are made in this book may fall into the category of I already knew that. However, there should be more than a few ideas that will elicit an aha!

• Language: English
• Publisher: John James Drake
• Release date: Mar 4, 2012
• ISBN: 9781465717429

Book preview

DECEIVING THE EAGLE

What you need to know about

the influences that evolution,

religion, business, the press &

government have on America

© Copyright 2011-14 by John James Drake

Smashwords Edition

This book is protected under the Copyright laws of the United States of America. It may not be transmitted in any form without the expressed permission of the author.

Chapter Introduction

Too many of us are unaware of the consumer manipulation that emanates from the major institutions in America. Then we go blithely through life with little concern or affront for how much of their information is either false or misleading. While we are an educated people, we are not very critical of those tactics that affect us on a daily basis.

Let me point out that virtually all of our information and attitudes are derived from sources outside of one’s self. While this may or may not be obvious, it sets the stage for what you will read later about making choices and free will.

The aim of this book is to raise people’s consciousness regarding the deceptive and deceitful practices that occur regularly in society by discussing a number of their root causes, and present some of the negative manifestations of those behaviors. We can not expect to advance society by allowing these actions to go unacknowledged and not dealt with.

Also described are some of the ways in which we voluntarily become victims, whether they are derived from personal interaction, religious indoctrination, the press, our government, or the ever present manipulation of consumers by big business. These are all areas in which we can benefit from having reasonable insights.

Before approaching those subjects it would be helpful to spend some time getting to know the brain, decipher how and why it functions the way it does, and then examine the implications. This begins in the next chapter.

Pogo: ‘I have met the enemy and it is me.’

While there are many adverse behaviors discussed herein, the most flagrant of them surely come from politicians, virtually all of whom are indebted to the corrupting purse-strings of corporate America for their livelihood (reelection funding).

It is the officers and directors of the major institutions who manipulate this country with their legalized bribes and illegal perks. And this achievement is accomplished without a great deal of detection, fanfare, or concern for who may be in office at any given time. Have you noticed how often corporations give money to both parties? This tolerated graft is why nothing much changes from one administration or one Congress to the next. Big business owns both.

People may imagine that they are voting for change if they cast their ballot against an incumbent. The reality is that any perceived difference between candidates is only a function of the false and exaggerated rhetoric that is issued for the purpose of vote-capturing.

Carefully-constructed posturing can be quite different from a politician’s actual beliefs, which may only be expressed in the back rooms of power. That is where political platform are created, with an unwavering eye in the direction of the candidate’s next campaign, and toward those who will help to finance it.

Business owns government, and it will until we accept that reality and act to prevent it.

Many of the points that are made in this book may fall into the category of I already knew that. However, there should be more than a few ideas that will elicit an aha!

As you will discover, I take frequent issue with counterfeit statements that emanate from our powerful institutions, a feature that has been a function of business plans and the political landscape for uncounted decades. It is these persistent fountains of misinformation and disinformation that we should be aware of and deal with if we are to counteract the negative side of people’s pursuit of power.

Just don’t imagine that you can label me un-American if you should happen to disagree with my contentions. Being a good citizen is not a function of being inclined to accept all that the government may want of us. Since it is an entity that is made up of regular people who have their own prejudices and personal agendas, and we should not expect otherwise. Resistance to the evils that are inherent in bad government is everyone’s duty in order to promote a stronger, more just America.

I am aware that in some cases I may be preaching to the choir. Those who are most interested in this book’s subjects might already be well versed in them. In contrast, those who have the greatest need to understand these issues are precisely those who may make the least effort in that direction. This is not an indictment of our country with its great beauty and fine citizens. Rather it is meant to focus on understanding the malevolent motivations of some and the lack of attention by others.

While many of the presented ideas rely on logic and analysis, others deal with an accretion of knowledge through the use of skepticism. These are important mental processes that are underrated and underutilized by society.

People who are not steeped in logic may not grasp the importance and elegance of using this technique in their daily lives. There are also those who may consider skeptics to be little more than boring malcontents, and therefore choose to ignore their rantings. Yet others may be so thoroughly indoctrinated in their dubious belief systems that evaluating the tenets of what they ‘know’ to be true is unthinkable, and is therefore virtually impossible.

I have also devoted some content to the misadventures of our past President, George W. Bush and his band of advisors. He was clearly a President of limited intellect… severely limited when you take into consideration his position of power. Too often he used the authority of his office to promote welfare for the rich and the expansion of religious dogma into government, which are two qualities that should be unacceptable to all Americans. Additionally, his actions were not accomplished through the exchange and acceptance of dialog among a broad-based audience, but they were achieved through the muscle of the Presidency and the efforts of his like-minded clique. The good news for the rest of us is that Bush and company were relatively incompetent at advancing their causes.

My rebukes of GWB do not, however, color me a Democrat or imply that he was the only sinner to come down the political pike. To the contrary, Obama has shown that his pre-election rhetoric was pretty but with sincere belief. He is as much a ‘dictator’ as the law will allow. And by dictator I mean one who does not bend to the will of the people.

I would prefer to be more accurately labeled as an Independent. Beyond that, I weigh ideas as they apply to the welfare of people in general rather than to the promotion of questionable codes of belief. Being an Independent should be an attractive concept, but one might not draw that conclusion from the political arena where people are encouraged to commit to the party of their choice, as if there were a real choice. And this mentality is what pits the parties against each other rather than their forming a contentious. This is one of the reasons why government is so ineffective.

I recognize that there is much to say about how and why many of us do not gain an effective knowledge about this country or the world in spite of, or perhaps because of the vast amounts of information that surrounds us. Among the reasons that may be pertinent are…

-- society is not terribly adept at transferring new knowledge from parent to child or from peer to peer

-- there is such a blizzard of factual and dishonest data circulating around us that a real effort is required to analyze and process it… with many of us being too disinterested to do so

-- we have developed relatively low expectations of other people, and we may feel philosophically that it is neither our place nor our right to challenge their beliefs or behaviors

-- we frequently find it easier to suffer the consequences of people’s slings and arrows rather than to transgress into the social taboo of criticism of others

As a result of our learning disabilities or personal inabilities, which are respectively genetic and social in nature, we tend to experience problems repeatedly because we can not get the learning thing down right. Being deficient in social development can readily be seen in those groups where criminal behavior or abject poverty has been perpetuated from one generation to the next. It is not extraordinary to have a parent and child or two siblings incarcerated at the same time. Nor is it all that unusual to have consecutive generations mired in the disincentives of the welfare state.

I recall a report in which an inner-city youth said that he expected to be killed or jailed before reaching adulthood. Not only did this reflect a great despair regarding his personal circumstances, but it tacitly expressed the belief that there is a lack of opportunity which might lead to better life. And it is people’s perceptions, whether they are real or imagined, which are difficult to overcome. This is especially true if they do not have the insight and benefit of a helpful mentor, parent, or friend who can provide them with enlightened information. An opinion about a lack of opportunity is surely one of the more destructive influences that confront America. A close runner-up to this is that jails are a solution to crime.

In the next chapters I discuss how the brain develops, forms conclusions, and can be flawed, sometimes fatally, due to genetic and external influences. This outlook will include a few thoughts relating to the genesis of indoctrination, how it corrupts society, and result in inappropriate beliefs and subsequent behaviors. Because of these varied subjects, this is essentially several books in one… evolution study, brain study and people study.

Chapter Meet The Brain

What’s Human Nature?

Do we actually know what the nature of human nature really is? The so-called ‘reductionist’ theory (cause and effect) is one that easily ignites heated debate among science-oriented academics. Many of them find it fatuous and repugnant to claim that the wonders of life and the universe are merely the reflections of microscopic particles which are engaged in a pointless dance which is choreographed by the laws of physics.

Surely, they say, this can not be so. Is it reasonable that our feelings of joy, sorrow, or boredom are nothing beyond chemical reactions in the brain? Are they only reactions between molecules and atoms, that even more microscopically are the reactions between the most fundamental particles? And that these one-dimensional particles are vibrating strings? While this subject is far too deep for inclusion in this book, it does offer a tiny window into the complexity of the universe, and therefore into all of us as well.

Before going too far into analyzing the brain we should probably try to agree on what the nature of human nature is. For most of us I suspect, it is a feeling that there are particular responses to various situations that are fairly common to all. While this is accurate, it does not explain how they came about (evolved).

Over time through trial and error early civilization discovered and employed behaviors that appeared to be more productive than others were. As they were repeatedly incorporated into daily life they may have eventually become fixed into the genetic code through the mutation of genes. The reason for this happening is that the adoption of survival traits meant a longer life, more procreation, and passing along of this beneficial re-brain wiring. Positive, life-promoting experiences were the great teacher. The brain became an effective relevance-interpreting machine.

As a result of these numerous, small, and protracted changes, living longer succeeded more often than did dying sooner. And this benefit became observable, natural, and second nature along the road to advanced civilization. Today we carry some of the knowledge of those who came before us which has contributed to shaping our attitudes… attitudes that we now consider normal.

How We Learn

Apparently the brain is not well formed with logic as an imperative. Rather, its programming is more about situations and pattern recognition. This means that we are predisposed to learn by the absorption and correlation of events that are experienced rather than any other way. The mind’s processes determine what it already knows, learns what the nature of logic (cause and effect) is, and begins to understand how using this information can be beneficial. Unfortunately a few of us are not very accomplished at taking advantage of that capability.

In the early stage of life children do not know much of the rules of the world, but they do come with minimal logic and pre-wired background to help them in forming sensible conclusions. Then they consciously and subconsciously take in new ideas, and compare them to other thoughts they have already accrued in an effort to make reasonable deductions.

The learning process is heavily prejudiced by the coaching of parents and by interactions with others. Like a computer, if there is garbage in, there will be garbage out. So part of accruing effective learning is being able distinguish the good from the bad, or ‘data filtering’.

For the most part when we are provided with legitimate information valid conclusions tend to be formed. This process improves over time as we think about what we know, learn which behaviors have better outcomes than others, and why.

Since we do not effectively teach logic in most school environments it must be gleaned from our peers and other experiences. Some of us will develop helpful insights more effectively than others do, while some may defy the benefits of logical thought their entire life.

Nature of Learning

Let me state and emphasize that education essentially comes from without, not from within. The best that we can hope to accomplish by ourselves is to contemplate and correlate the various pieces of information which we have accumulated from external sources. While some of us may start out being more capable of applying this process than others, we are all offered copious opportunities to enhance our understanding of the world by analyzing experiences we encounter and the behavior we see in others. Some will take a fuller advantage of this prospect. Some will not, and they will undoubtedly suffer the consequences.

In my case I attribute becoming a Computer Systems Engineer (essentially an analyst) and science junky thanks to the influence of a bright neighborhood youth. He was several years older then I, he and had been more exposed to the wonders of the universe. We would occasionally sit on the curb in the evening, look up at the heavens, and speculate on what it was all about. Contemplating the concept of infinate space was especially difficult.

As children we tend to look for simple, uncomplicated answers to the events that we encounter while growing up. Life is preferably cast in black and white. Shades of grey are difficult and annoying. When my uncle invented a garbage disposal many years ago, I recall his relating to my father that the cutting tool had to be heat treated in a specific way so that the edges of the blades would remain strong and sharp (and consequently brittle) while the rest of the blade would have to remain flexible enough to avoid snapping. This was too complicated for a child to get his head around. Couldn’t life be simpler, I wondered?

In getting older however, grey (and not just in my hair) has become much more interesting and richer. As I have aged I have become able to see past the need for simplicity, and have consequently embraced a keen interest in discovery, analysis, and problem solving. Not only did those fascinations eventually allow me to become a first class programmer, but it eventually nudged me in the direction of evaluating the nature of human nature itself. However, this latter interest took many years to come to fruition.

As I have already alluded to, the incentive for learning can be greatly enhanced by a mentor. Parents should make every effort to guide their children in a direction that is appropriate to the child’s disposition in order to maximize their potential for success.

Because my mother loved the piano, which she could not play, she pushed lessons on her children. My eldest brother took to Chopin and Rachmaninoff like a duck to water. But because I was not the least bit interested in piano playing (and was also dyslexic as I later learned), I resisted mightily… wasting everyone’s time, energy, and money. Eventually I discovered that my passion was computers and went for that.

It wasn’t until much later that I decided to express what I had gleaned about America and its institutions in the form of a book. While I have confidence in my conclusions on the array of subjects that are presented here, there is little doubt that some readers will take great exception to the way in which I view the world.

A few of these controversial conclusions certainly go against the prevailing wisdom, and they may they even provoke people’s anger. Let me point out a few ideas that can be useful when reading this book…

-- a response of anger usually indicates a closed mind

-- no one has a lock on right and wrong - not you, not me, and most assuredly not those who would deceive us into believing that they have that skill

-- skepticism is a useful tool that is underutilized by society because so much of what is presented to us is biased by the agenda of the presenter

-- repetitive assertions of ‘the truth’ are mind control, pure and simple, whether they come from politicians or preachers

All Wired Up

An analogy about the human mind might portray it as being like a living sponge because it soaks up information somewhat akin to the way the sponge soaks up nourishment. The sponge has passages which can be thought of as representing our brain’s original wiring. Our learning is like the nourishing ebb and flow of the tide which promotes the creation of new and delicate channels during the sponge’s lifetime. Sometimes the abundant nutrients in the sea have a strong effect and can create more permanent passages. At other times they are insubstantial and less effective. The result is an ever changing structure that evolves, to a greater or lesser degree, as a result of those watery influences.

In a similar way our brain comes with pre-wiring (original passages) thanks to our heredity. At an early stage it is like a computer that is manufactured with ‘POST’ software (Power On Self Test - in computer-speak) so that it ‘knows’ it is a computer and is not a toaster. Subsequent learning is the process by which the brain evolves and creates new synapses and clears or enhances old ones.

In addition to the original wiring and re-wiring we have an ‘operating system’ which knows part of what it is to be a human and something of what its capabilities are. With this knowledge the brain has an almost incomprehensible capability for processing new information, given its small size.

None of us begin with identical brains, not even identical twins. We each start life from a different starting gate. As a consequence of this uniqueness we all develop different abilities and propensities that correspond, to a great degree, to the environment in which we live. A few of us may even start with extra-ordinary wiring. I think we can agree the Mozart had a serious musical advantage over his peers.

Some of us have such unfortunate original wiring that they may never be capable of interacting with the outside world in anything resembling a realistic manner. Still others may encounter corrupting influences, and become harmful to themselves and to society. This last group produces a real challenge for the rest of us to cope with when they inflict their life remedies on others.

On the other side of the coin there is also a fortunate subset of humans who are have been nurtured by one or more mentors, and have consequently manage to attain achievements that go beyond what would have been normal or expected with their native abilities. Their achievements demonstrate how positive tutoring can achieve exceptional results.

John C. Crosby, writer: ‘Mentoring is a brain to pick, an ear to listen, and a push in the right direction.’

Brain Divisions

According to those who purport to know these things, there are multiple areas of the brain that are somewhat specific in nature and are used for discrete functions such as language, analysis, artistic ability, hearing, seeing, imagination, and the like. When we learn a new word, we remember its meaning so that is can be reused in the future. This brain re-wiring provides us with a method to advance our communications through written and verbal cues, as well as through facial expressions and body language.

In addition to discrete input, we store rudimentary pictures in the brain which are more like schematics (which use less brain power) than they are like detailed photographs. These images are then used to make broad associations and connections to our visual world, and they may also serve a function in dreaming and daydreaming.

I suspect that our having occasional feeling of deja vu comes from the viewing of an image which promotes a flashback to one of these pictures that was almost forgotten. As a result, the connection that we conjure up may be a strong, or only a weak remembrance. These images are, for the most part, what allow us to recognize objects that are similar to what we have seen before, whether they are mountains, trees or people. This could also be the case with deja moo… when we have heard that bull before.

As an aside about dreams, as a child I was told that if one has a recurring nightmare there may be two possible resolutions… wake yourself up (which can be done with practice) or simply let the monster get you. Waking up is the short term solution. Letting yourself be eaten, fall from a height, or in some way be assaulted will usually stop the nightmare from returning. It worked for me. I no longer fall down elevator shafts.

Brain Programming

Unlike a computer’s operating system which functions with a rigid set of rules, the mind’s programming is capable of both subtle and dramatic changes depending on the strength of its inputs. It is this ability to learn a broad range of reactions to stimuli that is built into our initial makeup. It can be seen in our going from babies to adults and, to some degree, back to infants as we age. This learning process contributes to and constitutes our value-system, beliefs, attitudes, agenda, goals and self-perception. Without this facility we would be a single purpose program regardless of the circumstances that surround us. Compare us favorably, for example, to the shark which has been labeled (though incorrectly) to be little more than an eating machine.

As for our initial wiring, it appears that certain processes must occur within a specific timeframes in the brain’s development for them to succeed effectively. It has been reported that if a language is not learned in the early years, the brain can not learn one because its accommodating programming has evaporated. Similarly, if chimps do not learn to use tools from their troop-mates by the age of eight, they can never pick up that skill. So as it turns out, some of our brain subprograms come and go, never to return. However, once a language is learned, picking up a second or third is only a matter of effort because the requisite wiring has been stabilized. Learning a language is also easier while that particular program is functioning to it maximum in our youth.

If this language theory is correct it sets the stage for understanding why some recidivist criminals can not learn a new trick no matter how much inducement or incarceration is used. At the point in time when they should have learned reasonable socialization they were deprived of this education by incompetent or missing parents. Or they may have been unduly influenced by their peer group with a lower social conscience. This may also be one of the factors in why the poor tend to remain poor and criminals may remain criminals.

George Bernard Shaw, author: ‘A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly, science into superstition, and art into pedantry. Hence university education.’

Brain Integration

There are two ways in which the brain and body function on an automated level. One is the ‘autonomic nervous system’ which responds to body input/sensations without the time consuming requirement of passing that information through the central brain processing first. If we touch something that is hot, our hand naturally reacts quickly by pulling away even before the brain has had a chance to evaluate the exact nature of the stimulus. This also explains why it takes a moment to feel the pain.

The other facility is what I will call a ‘reactive response system’. It is as fast as the autonomic system, and it does not use the awareness portion of the brain to initiate or validate reactions. This ability comes into play when we make movements without conscious thought in order to be efficient at a repetitive task. It can be exemplified by knitting, petting a cat, or driving a car. We may not consciously process the steering wheel movements, but we can easily become aware of them and then modify them as necessary. If we were to take time to think about each hand and eye movement, we would be unable to function because of brain overload. Our brain is fast, but not that fast.

In a study designed to show ‘non-thinking’ implications, people were asked to simulate their lane changing motion at a steering wheel while seated in a chair. Invariably the movements were exaggerated and would have led to greatly overshooting the lane. In this case the conscious thought process was not as effective as was the relatively thought-free process during driving. This is also why so many drivers make thoughtless decisions while driving… they are on autopilot.

The reactive response system may also help to explain some of the thoughtless behaviors in our daily lives. Because the brain does not have sufficient power to thoroughly process our every situation, we learn many predeterminations and then soft-wire those decisions in our lower-level brains in order to reduce our higher-level brain workload. This allows us to enact run-of-the-mill responses to situations more easily. Getting effortlessly from one well-known destination to another in an automobile would be an example of this capacity.

The ability to go on automatic control, however, can be both good and bad. On one hand we are able to get more done with less mental effort, and this potentially leaves the brain’s power available for more critical tasks. On the other hand we then have less control of behaviors because we are not exercising as much management oversight. This, of course, can lead to poor decision making.

Brain Training

Another characteristic of learning is what I will call ‘pattern driven thoughts’. That is, we subconsciously store some experiences as vague or nebulous events that can easily be referred back to when appropriate. The next time a similar incident occurs we may recount a previously stored event, or perhaps a composite of several similar events, and will react appropriately.

This connection to reality can give us a feeling of comfort or anxiety depending on the nature of and reasons for the stored patterns. People generally experience some anxiety when visiting a doctor’s office because one or more of their previous experiences were uncomfortable, or even because of negative stories that were told to them by others. When one’s blood pressure is taken in a doctor’s office it is usually higher than when taken at home… an indication of a discomfort level.

On the positive side, remembered patterns are conveniently used to prepare us for an upcoming occurrence, which can be helpful. In a way this is similar to our ‘fight or flight’ wiring, just not as extreme. It is the method by which our brain gets ready for potential events. Anticipating a sporting event could fall into this category.

You may know of someone who regularly displays the negative aspects of their thoughts. They will obsess on what may be about to happen to a degree that is out of proportion to an impending incident. Their sense of anxiety may even outweigh their ability to make a rational assessment of an event. As a result, problems can be invented when none exist or when none were probable.

A person might dread flying in an airliner and insist on driving to destinations or not going at all. The relative safety of planes verses that of cars and buses are not part of their thought process. Their exaggerated sense of anxiety overwhelms their rationality. This type of fear may be the result of unfamiliarity (not knowing the dynamics and risk-level of flight) or of a feeling that they lack of control (they are not flying the plane and may not trust the plane or the pilot). A well known sports commentator would average thousands of miles per week in his RV, going from one game venue to another just to avoid his fear of flying.

There are also people who simply like to attract attention to themselves with behaviors which are related to certain types of avoidances. Food mind-games fall nicely into this category. Science has not conclusively demonstrated that people who have diets devoid in particular foods, like red meat, are healthier than those with diets consisting of moderate meat consumption. I think it is fair to assume one or more of the following may be occurring…

-- they do not care to thoroughly understand nutrition

-- they are intimidated by what they have read

-- they do not want to eat anything that they could pet - so to speak

-- they enjoy the attention they receive (even if negative) resulting from their behavior

-- they are doing what they think is best for them

One theory about the evolution of brain development is that our switching from exclusively eating plant material to focusing on eating red meats was instrumental in the growth of the brain. It apparently provided us with the requisite nutrients for its enlargement that were absent from grain and vegetable foods. Having a straight vegetarian diet required too much of a time/effort hit to be efficient because of its inherently low energy value.

Since early man typically hunted during the day when most other predators were resting, they needed to ingest fat and protein to be able to run down their prey (typically the grass eaters), a task which might take many hours before the query was too exhausted to go on. A vegetarian diet would not have provided them with sufficient energy values which were required for this task.

According to a scientific article, in early humans there was a trade-off between the sizes of our guts and that of our brain. As we moved toward a diet of meat, we reduced our digestive needs by cooking meats before eating them. Our guts then became smaller for a mammal of our size, and the energy which was freed up by smaller bowels would then help power and grow our brains.

Knowing that we evolved to be carnivores makes me wonder how strict vegetarians think they are getting sufficient nutrition.

Brain Intuition

Intuition occurs when we experience feelings (a form of knowledge) which have been translated into our genes over the generations. When those ingrained attitudes repeatedly kept someone out of harms way, the wiring became reinforced (by living and not dieing), and this ‘knowledge’ was subsequently passed along to their offspring. The longer that the reinforcement persisted, the more likely it was that it would become a part of our intuition’s repertory. Or more succinctly, learning perpetuates itself when it contributes to one’s survival and facilitates the passing on of one’s genes.

For example, it is thought that our innate fear of snakes and other dangers relate to events in our past that eventually became hard-wired into our brains. Our ancestors confronted these situations often enough that the fear we now experience is a direct result of their reactions being transferred onto the future. These fears can be thought of as the magic of seeing the world through the eyes of those who came before us. It can also be thought of as education without going through a learning process.

Feral cats that have become tame pets and are then released into the wild will revert back to their wild intuition. Those that escape danger by being wary will have that behavior reinforced. And with each successive generation they will become more wary. This reversion behavior has also been shown to occur with house cats.

With what I will call ‘situational intuition’ we can experience thoughts about people who are perceived as not being in our clan or who are not like us. This may even prompt us to feel uneasy about persons we do not know. ‘I knew I didn’t like that person from the moment we met’ might be one reaction. This intuition can also reveal itself when we are watching a movie or television program, and an unknown actor is instinctively liked or disliked.

A majority of viewers may even have this common reaction to an actor’s appearance. In fact, Hollywood is adept at typecasting actors because of a semi-common response. In other cases the movie makers will create this feeling for us over time, such as with the dressing of villains in black. We may then be conditioned to associate the bad guys or good guys with the color of their clothes, or that of their horses.

Other associations may refer back to our previous encounters with certain colors, smells and shapes. Some years ago Nissan came out with a bold-yellow colored Z-car, a 280ZX, I think. Having learned somewhere in my past that this color was predominately used for run-down taxis, I had a learned dislike for the color. However after observing it in its new context for some time, I was able to give up my previous bias and accept that this particular shade of yellow was ok or perhaps even appropriate for a sports car. As a result I was able to unlearn an earlier attitude, being none the worse for it.

Past experiences can be a predictor of the future attitudes - or to put it another way, current attitudes can be rooted in the past.

Brain Filtering

Our life is not much different, at least in a figurative way, from the computer software programs that I used to write for a living. Input flows through the program and produces output. Input flows through our brains and can produce immediate or delayed responses. In some cases the output can be invalid with computers because of faulty coding. Why should the human mind be any different, except that we use many learned filters to assess the input and determine what may actually be garbage-in?

Because of our adoption of these filters we may have the ability to reject information as being irrelevant, inappropriate, or flawed. Even some of the more sophisticated computer programs have a limited filtering capability in order to solve potential conflicts. However, our filters may be unable to provide favorable results if they too happen to be faulty, such as when they motivate us to see events and people in unacceptable ways, such as with...

-- white supremacist groups which may see it as their duty to purge undesirables from their country

-- government-hating groups who have a revolutionary